Senior Legal Counsel - Employment, Incentives & Pensions

Monzo Bank; London; Hybrid; GBP 93,000 - 127,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking bank as a Senior Legal Counsel in Employment, Incentives & Pensions. This role offers the chance to shape legal strategies in a dynamic environment, providing crucial support across the employee lifecycle. You'll work collaboratively with diverse teams, advising on complex legal matters while fostering an inclusive culture. If you're a strategic thinker with a passion for the intersection of law and banking, this opportunity is perfect for you. Enjoy flexible working arrangements and a competitive compensation package, including stock options and a generous learning budget. Be part of a team that's redefining banking for the future.

Benefits

Stock Options

Flexible Working Hours

Learning Budget of £1,000

Visa Sponsorship

Health and Wellness Benefits

Qualifications

• Experienced employment lawyer with strong technical grounding in employment law.
• Ability to advise on EIP matters and regulatory issues in financial services.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic legal advice on employment, incentives, and pensions matters.
• Collaborate with various teams to develop policies and procedures.
• Manage contentious EIP legal matters with external counsel.

Skills

Employment Law

Regulatory Compliance

Strategic Thinking

Problem Solving

Communication

Education

6+ years PQE

Job description

London or Remote UK | £93,500 - £126,500 (based on experience level) + stock options + benefits

Our Legal team

We're looking for a Senior Legal Counsel - Employment, Incentives & Pensions to join our team at Monzo and help us build one of the best, most innovative banks in the world. This role will have day-to-day responsibility for advising on employment, incentives and pensions (EIP) related matters in a regulated bank environment. This role will report to Monzo’s Director of Legal - EIP and is part of the Group Centre EIP team in the Legal & Board Governance Collective at Monzo, which supports Monzo Group and its operating entities globally.

In this role, you will work at all levels in the organisation and in close partnership with our People, Reward, Risk & Compliance and Finance teams, as well as in collaboration with senior Legal team stakeholders as the business develops into a matrix organisation. You’ll lead on a wide range of EIP related legal matters with opportunities for growth in role as the business scales in the UK and internationally.

You’ll play a key role by...

• Providing strategic employment legal advice and commercial solutions on EIP matters impacting the Monzo Group as a whole, as well as its subsidiary legal entities. Work closely and collaboratively with Monzo’s Director of Legal EIP and the other Senior Legal Counsel EIP lawyer, as well as with the broader Group Centre Legal team plus local entity GCs and their teams.
• Being a trusted adviser and partner to the People team, including in developing policies, procedures, guidance and templates relevant for a range of EIP legal matters.
• Providing EIP advisory legal support to the business as required across the entire employee life cycle - from hiring (including executive service contracts), people processes and departures.
• Managing any contentious EIP legal matters in conjunction with external counsel.
• Working with Monzo’s Reward team on compensation arrangements and remuneration policies and practices in a bank regulatory compensation framework.
• Providing legal support to the corporate and commercial legal functions, including on TUPE.
• Supporting international projects and matters in the EU and US as the business continues to scale.
• Working proactively and collaboratively with members of the wider Legal, People, Reward, Tax, Risk & Compliance, & Finance Collectives on a variety of EIP related matters.
• Developing and implement internal frameworks, processes and procedures to increase the efficiency and scalability of EIP legal advice across the Monzo Group and its subsidiary entities.
• Delivering training, share insights from your work, and help educate others on EIP matters.
• Managing relationships with our external legal counsel and work with others in the Collective to ensure we are optimising our legal spend on EIP matters and obtaining best value.

We’d love to hear from you if…

• You are an experienced, commercial and pragmatic employment lawyer, with at least 6 years + PQE or equivalent experience.
• You have an excellent technical grounding in all aspects of employment law, having spent time in private practice, and ideally time in house at a bank and/or other financial institution.
• You have experience advising on employment-related regulatory issues which arise in financial services, such as SMCR and FCA Code of Conduct and wider Remuneration Code matters.
• You have experience of advising on incentive structures including share options, plus an awareness of workplace defined contribution pension arrangements.
• You are a strategic thinker, a strong communicator and a keen problem solver who can recommend solutions that balance business and risk perspectives.
• You are willing to jump in and handle a wide range of EIP related legal issues that may arise even outside your core areas of expertise in an enthusiastic, proactive, and resourceful manner, and can sensibly assess when best to engage external counsel in a cost-effective way.
• You are comfortable operating at all levels of the organisation up to the Executive and liaising with a variety of internal and external stakeholders.
• You enjoy horizon scanning, proactively assessing risks, and quickly identifying and independently implementing mitigating actions. You are always looking for new ways to improve the efficiency and scalability of legal processes and systems.
• You have a dynamic and entrepreneurial approach and are comfortable with the ambiguity of a fast-paced and rapidly-evolving environment.
• You’ve an open and curious mind, are passionate about the intersection of banking and technology and are excited to join us for the next stage of our journey at Monzo!

Not ticking every box? That’s totally okay! Studies show that women and people of colour might hesitate to apply unless they meet every single requirement. At Monzo, we’re dedicated to creating an inclusive and welcoming team. If you’re passionate about this role and keen to learn and grow with us, we encourage you to apply - even if you don’t have everything that's listed just yet. Drop us your application, we’d love to hear from you! In-house experience in financial services is preferred, but is not essential for the right candidate. PQE is a guide only.

The application journey has 3 key steps

• Recruiter call (potentially followed by an initial call with Director of Legal - EIP)
• First stage 1 hour role specific interview
• Second stage 1 hour behavioural interview

Our average process takes around 3-4 weeks but we will always work around your availability. You will have the chance to speak to our recruitment team at various points during your process but if you do have any specific questions ahead of this please contact us on [e-mail].

We’ll only close this role once we have enough applications for the next stage. Please submit your application as soon as possible to make sure you don’t miss out.

Your compensation package:

£93,500 - £126,500 base salary stock options

We can sponsor visas

This role can be based in our London office, but we're open to distributed working within the UK (with ad hoc meetings in London).

We offer flexible working hours and trust you to work enough hours to do your job well, at times that suit you and your team

Learning budget of £1,000 a year for books, training courses and conferences

And much more, see our full list of benefits here

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